Déjà Vu
"Kid?" Mr. Stark asked, waving his arm in front of Peter's face. "Did you hear what I said?"
Peter blinked, face twisting as he smiled. "I heard you, Mr. Stark. Just having trouble processing. I-You want me to come on the mission?"
Mr. Stark sighed. "Trust me. It's the last thing I want. I still think you should stick to low stuff, especially after the Blip, but we're low on Avengers."
Peter blinked again. Right, he wasn't ready for the big stuff, and he was Mr. Stark's last choice. "Oh, right. Well, I, uh, I'll do my best not to screw the pooch."
Mr. Stark huffed out a laugh. "Make sure you eat a big dinner. We're leaving at sundown."
Peter nodded. "Uh, yes, I'll get to that."
Peter ended up in the kitchen, grabbing everything edible. The island table had everything, and Peter was quickly working through the food.
"Peter? You good?"
Peter's head snapped up over the pile of food. "Sheve!" Peter covered his mouth as he finished his 7th sandwich. "I'm, uh, Mr. Stark told me to eat up before the mission."
"Ah." Steve nodded. "Right. Tony told me. Have you been briefed on the mission?"
Peter shook his head and finished eating. "Uh, no. I figured that if Mr. Stark was letting me come, I was just, like, the lookout or something. He doesn't trust me to do the big stuff yet."
Steve cocked his head and sat down. "Kid, we're going to infiltrate an isolated HYDRA camp in the outskirts of Belgium."
"Do those just pop out of nowhere?"
"The camps are usually isolated, but there are groups of people who share the same beliefs as them and use the camps as a base center," Steve explained. "Anyway, we need intel on what they're doing
first, before we bring them in, and that's where you come in."
Steve proceeded to explain Peter's job as Peter continued to eat. Peter decided to stop eating after Steve finished briefing him. He didn't want to be waddling like a penguin out in the field.
*
"Spider-Man? You in position?" Steve's voice rang in Peter's ear.
Peter popped open the vent and shot a web to the ground, pulling at it to make sure it will hold. It always does, and he designed it to handle 10x times his weight, and Mr. Stark approved it. Still. He couldn't screw up this time.
Peter hopped into the vent and slowly lowered himself. "Yep, going down as we speak."
"All right, kid," Mr. Stark said over the comms, "remember, all you have to do is find the group and record what you see. Do not engage."
Peter clenched his jaw, the soft texture of his mask caressing his cheek. Of course. He wasn't ready to actually face off with whoever ran the base.
"Kid? Did you hear me?"
"Loud and clear," Peter answered, wincing as his voice echoed in the vent. He stayed quiet as he went down, stopping to peer into different rooms until something caught his eye.
"Woah," he whispered.
"What is it, Spider-Man?"
Peter stuck to the side of the vent, trying to get a better view. There was a device, and there was a blue liquid going through a bunch of tubes. At the end of the machine, there was a bucket. "Karen, anyone in there?"
Peter watched as everything turned blue, Karen scanning for heat signatures.
"Negative, Peter," Karen's soft voice said.
"Kid, talk to us. What do you see?"
"I don't know. Whoever runs this place they have a chemist synthesizing a chemical? Maybe. It's blue." Peter narrowed his eyes. "I'm going in."
"What? No!" Mr. Stark almost yelled. "Your job is gathering evidence and not interfering."
"Finding out what they're doing here is gathering evidence," Peter argued. "And there is no one here. I'm going in."
"Kid-"
"I know what I'm doing, Mr. Stark," Peter cut off Mr. Stark's protest. "Trust me, please." Peter hadn't meant for his voice to come off as wrecked, but he was getting frustrated. He fought off The Vulture, and he went up against Thanos.
Mr. Stark sighed. "Fine. But any sign of trouble, and you get out of there."
Peter nodded, then remembered that Mr. Stark couldn't see him. "Yeah, I know." He opened the vent opening and dropped in, landing gracefully on his heels. "Karen, start recording, and alert me if anybody gets within a ten-foot radius."
Karen didn't respond, but Peter trusted that she would. Karen, much like Mr. Stark's other AI's, has grown fond of Peter.
Peter approached the device with caution. The blue substance came from an IV bag, slipping into a funnel, leading into a blood test tube. "This group, whoever they are, they're mixing this blue liquid with someone's blood," Peter said, watching as a mechanical clamp lifted the test tube, now mixed with the blue substance and poured it into another tunnel that went through many turns but ended up in the bucket.
Peter stepped away from the device, looking around the room. There were a few lab tables, papers full of chemical formulas and equations. Peter made sure that the suit's camera picked up everything. He went around the table, looking into a cabinet in the far corner, but there was nothing.
Peter sighed. "Aside from the creepy device behind me, there's nothing..." Peter trailed off as he looked up and saw a fridge. Okay, that wasn't the creepy part; the stuff inside was. "Uh, I retract my statement."
Peter opened the fridge and pulled out the test tube rack.
"Spider-Man," Bucky spoke for the first time. "We don't have eyes inside, so what do you see?"
"Oh, right, uh, the bad guys have two racks full of someone's blood," Peter explained. "Maybe this is the blood they're mixing that blue thing with."
"Peter, someone is coming," Karen alerted him.
"Crap," Peter muttered, grabbing a tube before putting the rack back in and closing the fridge.
"What is it, kid?"
"Someone's coming," Peter whispered, jumping back into the vent. He closed the opening just in time when a guy in a lab coat opened the door.
The guy froze, looking around the room. Peter held his breath. There was no way this guy could figure out that Peter had been in there.
Parker Luck struck again. Peter doesn't know what the guy saw, but he sprung into action, pulling his computer out and starting to pack things up.
"Uh oh, that's not good," Peter said to himself. "Uh, guys, I think the chemist is going to run."
"We'll make sure he doesn't leave," Steve said.
"Kid, get out of there," Mr. Stark ordered. "We'll handle the rest."
Peter sighed. "Got it." He was about to scale his way up when the chemist whipped out a USB and connected it to his computer. He was downloading things from his laptop, probably vital things, things that could be evidence. Oh, he was so going to get in trouble.
Peter dropped down and went after the chemist, not letting him get the chance to react and do something. Peter shoved the guy away from the computer, and his back hit the back table. "That looked like it hurt," he quipped.
The chemist shook of his pain and pulled out a gun, aiming it at Peter. Peter shot a web at the gun and knocked it to the side, the bullet ricochetting against a table leg, bringing down the table.
"So, you're not a talker," Peter said, dodging the guy's punch.
"Spider-Man, who are you talking to?" Mr. Stark asked, the sound of repulsors firing in the background.
"Uh, the chemist," Peter grunted out, swinging the busted-up table at the bad guy.
"What? I told you to get out of here."
Peter huffed. "I had to-" Peter's words cut off as he had to dodge the chemist throwing himself at Peter. "You're going to have to try harder than that if you want to land a hit."
Peter turned around, but it seemed that the guy wasn't aiming for him at all. He was pressing a code into a padlock. "Oh, that's not good." Peter shot a web at the guy's arm and pulled him away from the screen. "What did you just do?"
The chemist merely smirked. Oh, that Подонок. Wait. Did he just...? He was spending too much time with Nat.
Peter turned back to the padlock. "Karen, what did the chemist do?"
"I do not know, Peter," Kare answered, her tone apologetic.
"Uh, guys, chemist guy punched in a code, but I don't know what it does," Peter said, then turned to get the chemist to undo whatever he did. Only, the chemist was running out of the room, briefcase in hand. "Ugh, crap."
"Kid, get out of here!" Mr. Stark yelled, making Peter wince. "The chemist activated six bombs. The building is going to come down."
Peter knawed on his bottom lip. That briefcase could be necessary. "Karen, how long until the bombs go off?"
"Two minutes and counting."
Peter took off after the chemist, quickly catching up with the guy due to his enhanced speed. He shot a web at the briefcase and pulled it towards him. He swung the case at the chemist, successfully knocking him down. The chemist scrambled up and came after Peter.
"Man, I do not have the time to fight." Peter sighed. He shot a web at the cabinet behind the guy and threw it at the chemist's head, knocking him out. "Karen, find me the quickest exit."
"Head north, Peter."
Peter listened and started running as fast as he could, holding the briefcase close to him. The alarm was still blaring, and Peter's ears were not happy.
"Kid, where are you?" Mr. Stark asked.
"Uh, I'm still inside."
"What! What are you doing in there?"
"Getting my cardio in," Peter panted out.
"Turn left up ahead," Karen instructed.
"Get the hell out of there, Pete!"
"No, I was planning on sitting and taking a small break!" Peter exclaimed, taking a sharp left into a room.
"Not the time for sarcasm, kid," Bucky said. "You got less than a minute."
"Karen? Where do I go now?"
Karen highlighted the left door to his right.
"Not so fast!"
Peter whirled around in time to catch whatever the chemist threw at him. "Man, you do not stay down for long!" Peter looked at the object, his eyes widening. He threw the grenade through the door he came in through and scrambled to get out of the room.
"If I can't have it, no one can!" The chemist yelled. "You-!"
The words cut off, the grenade exploding. The blast knocked Peter off his feet, and he landed on the ground. At least, he had gotten a few feet away. It took a few seconds for his vision to clear up and for the ringing in his ears to fade away. When it did, he heard the frantic voice of Mr. Stark.
"Peter! What was that! Are you still inside!"
Peter winced and tried to push himself up, only to wince again. He looked down and saw a bomb fragment sticking out of his left leg.
"Shit."
"Peter, what's going on!" The three heroes yelled at the same time.
"Chemist...grenade...shrapnel...pain," Peter grunted out in fragments, trying to breathe through the pain.
"Peter, bud, you need to-"
Just as Peter was getting to his feet, the alarms shut off, and the bombs went off. His spidey sense went off, but not even a second later, Peter got stuck under a building. Again.
Peter could feel the difference in the amount of weight on his body, and a wave of Déjà Vu passed over him. The pressure was reminding him of his face-off with Tooms. He thought that he had gotten Tooms right where he wanted, but it was the other way around. Peter had gotten cocky, not realizing that his spidey sense was going off because of the building instead of the flying machine coming after him. Peter should've known; he's supposed to be smart. Mr. Stark was right on Peter not being ready.
He couldn't differentiate between the pressure on his back and the pressure on his lungs. Peter couldn't suck in any air. He tried to ask Karen what was going on, but he felt a lump in his throat, preventing him from speaking. Static was running through his arms, and he could distantly hear someone screaming, but all he could focus was on the pressure on his body, reminding him of his failure.
Peter's vision darkened before he felt the pressure lift and felt soft, strong arms pick him up.
*
When Peter regained consciousness, he wished he could slip into unconsciousness again. He could feel the pulse of pain everywhere, but it was primarily strong in his left leg. He groaned, trying to move to lessen the pressure on his everything, but he didn't have the energy to move.
"Pete? You with us?" Peter couldn't decipher the voice, but the smell of motor oil and coffee told him who it was.
Peter gradually blinked open his eyes, thankful that Mr. Stark had dim the lights. He was already in pain, and he didn't want to add his eyes to the list of body parts that hurt. "Mr. Stark?" Peter barely recognized his voice. It was rough, and his words slurred.
"You're okay, Pete," Mr. Stark whispered and ran his fingers through Peter's curls. "Get some rest, okay?"
Peter hummed, relaxing as Mr. Stark massaged his head. "Don't leave, please."
"Never, kid." Peter felt a soft press to his forehead. "Never."